Pneumatic sleeper for railroads



H. LUBECK.

PNEUMATIC SLEEPER FOR RAILROADS.

APPLICATION FILED mmzo, 1919.

1,358,764. Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

avwcufoz jfudin lzzebi UNITED STATES,

PATENT EILDING Lnnnc rjor rinnsnnnn, swnnnn.

Application fii'a marry 20,1919.

This invention relates to pneumatic sleepers for railroads, and has for' its'object to provide a substitute for the wooden sleepers" or ties generally used at presei1t in railroad construction, which will be superior to the wooden sleepers not only as regards life, but

"also as regards elasticity.

In this connection the followin factors must be taken lntoconsiderationz For only is it necessary that such-a substitute for woodensleepers should counterbalance its probable higher initial cost by a longer life and a consequent saving of labor for maintenance and renewal, but it should also have no longer of such importance, since the price of wood and the cost of labor have gone up considerably and are likely to go still higher, so that the difference in initial cost between wooden sleepers and other sleepers Wlll become; smaller and smallerhj -Var1ous substitutes for wooden sleepers have been suggested in the past, some made of metal and some of concrete, but these did not present a satisfactory solution of the problem, partly because they presented unusual difiiculties in laying and replacing, but chiefly becausethey did? not have the same elasticity as wooden sleepers. An elastic support of the rails is necessary, not only to minimize the short but exceedingly sharp blows brought about by-the wheels passing over the rail joints, particularly at high speed, and to insure a smooth and pleasant running of the cars, but also tOiLVOld unnecessary wear and tear on the rails and on the rollingstock. r

Accordlng to my invention, :1 provide pneumatic sleepers madeof, metal, preferably of sheet metal, which aSfstated above,

will be superior to wooden sleepers not only as regards durability, but as regards elast 1c ity as well, and which can be easily laid, and also removed and replaced without dlfficulty. My pneumatic sleepers will also have the advantage that there is very little waste in material, as compared w1th wooden sleepers; when after a long llfe they have done their service and have to be replaced, only Specification of Letters Patent.

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and the remainder'can be remade into new sleepers or used for other purposes.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, I have shown one form of construction of my pneumatic sleeper, and two forms of its application.

Iii-these drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 illustrate one form of construction, Fig. 1 being a central longitudinalsection through one of my pneumatic sleepers, taken on line ll' of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is-a plan view of the sleeper Flg. 3 is a cross section on line 3+3 of Fig. 2; Fig. shows a modifiedform of a safety support; and Fig. 5 shows in plan View another form of using my pneu matic sleeper.

The pneumatic sleeper shown in the draw mgs conslsts preferably of-two dished sec- I tions, anjupper section A and a lower sec o a V the same good qualitiesof wooden sleepers. 1 tlon B made Oi metal preferably of Shbet As regards-the initial cost, this is probably" metal; these two dished sections, when placed together with their edges in abutment, will form together a hollow sl'eeper OFFICE.

body. The two sections are preferably joined along their meeting edges C, as by welding or in any other suitable manner, so

asto form an airtight body. This sleeper body is preferably; filled: with compressed air or other gaseous; medium under pressure, and "for this. purpose a ivalve D is suitably provided in the sleeper. section A,secured to said section preferablyby welding; After the air or other medium in the sleeper has reached the desired pressure,fthe valvemay be sealed by soldering, so as to preventleakage. I

have shown in the drawings metal bushings or blocks, E secured to the upper sleeper section A asby welding, and extending The rails may be secured to the sleepers in any suitable way. As an exainp'le, l

rail clamps G. -A locking platefHis pref erably interposed between the head of the screw F and the clamp G, this plate having down-turned edges or'fianges H engaging the sides of the clamp G and tip-turned flanges H adapted to engage two of the sides of the screw head, so as to lock the screw securely against accidental turning.

A protecting plate I is preferably interposed between the rail and the sleeper, so as to prevent wear between these two parts,

.this plate having up-turned flanges" I pressed down on the rail by the, clamps G.

If desired, the plate I mayfbej made of in sulating material, such as vulcanized rubber, hard fiber, etc.; so that therails could I be used as electrical conductors vfor telephone, telegraph orother electric signaling arrangement. As will be seen in Fig. 1, the bushings E extend to within a short .dis-

"tance of the lower sleeper section, and they will thus form at the same time a safety 7 support to prevent material deformation of the sleeper in case a leak should occur'which would releasethepressure 'insidethe sleeper. Of coursea suiiicient clearance must be left between the bushings E and the lower sleeper section, to allow for the pneumatic spring action when a train passes over the:

rail above the sleeper. p While in Figs. 1,2 and 3 I'have shown my" pneumatic. sleeper arranged crosswise of therails, that is, at right angles to the direction of the rails, as is usual with wooden ties, I have illustrated in Fig. 4 a

form in which the sleepers extend in the same direction as the rails. In this case op-. positely-arranged sleepers are preferably connected by suitable cross bars or braces K.

i It will be seen from the drawings that with the specialfforinof sleepers and of railsecuring jdevice ShOWn,'tl16 "plaCiI lg Of the sleepers in proper positionfland the removal of damaged sleepers and their replacementby new ones can be done without difficulty. I desire it to be clearly understood, however, thatthe drawings represent one ex;

. ample onlyof a sleeper constructed in accordancejwith my invention, and that vari-f ous modifications may be-made in the conj struction as well as in the applicationand" use'of the sleeper, without departing from V the'naturei'of'my invention as set forth in the appended claims. 7 Y i As stated above,'any'othersuitable kind i of securing means may bejused to fasten the rails to the sleepers. In case such other securingdevices do not include an inwardlyextending' bushing, I may provide another safety support for the sleeper,such as for,

instancea block E of metal or any other suitable material, located inside the sleeper, preferably insuch. a position that when the sleeperji's used in track construction, such block will lie inside the sleeper'underneath' the rail .(seeFig'. 4), so afs-to prevent the sleeper :t'rolncollapslng under the weight means: I I

'meansb p,

7.;An' elastl sleeper for 'railroads,- com-" prising an upper and a lower section in con of a passingtrain, in case the pressure inside the sleeper has been released accidentally or otherwise. This block maybe secured to either one of the two sleeper sections, but it must of course be sufliciently spaced from the other section to allow for the'pne'umatic spring action of the sleeper,

2. A sleeper Ifor railroads formed by welding two dished metal sections together so as to inclose between them an airtight space. I

3. A: pneumatic "sleeper for ."railroads,

formed ot. two sheet metal sections pressed: I

into substantially concave shape and rigidly connected along their edges, so as to inclose between them anlairtight' space,- V

4. .A pneumatic sleeper for railroads, formed" of two sheet metal sectionsdirectly welded together; along their edges, one ot:

said sections havinga concavejshape, soasf to inclose with the other'section an {airtlghtspace.

ti'on and extending within said spaccrbut A 'pneumatm sleeper for railroads; I compr sing an upper anda lower metal see.- tion inclosin'g betweenjthem' an airtight space, bushings secured to said upper see terminating'at a distance frorn7said1lower section, said bushings having sockets {open toward the outside. to receiverail-securing 1 6. A sleeper for. railroads, comprising an upper and a: lower metal section-joined along their edges,- but otherwise spaced from each other,:bushingssecured to said upper.

section and extending within said space,but term natingat a distance from said lower section, said bushings havingsockets open toward the outside'to receive railsecuring tact with each other along their'edges but capable of relative movement toward and j I from each other between saidgedges. I

In testimony whereofI afiix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

' HILDING LUBECK.

Witnesses: g l l .A BERT ErPAnnnm' HELEN Loam. 

